Lost in Space (1998)

We’ve talked about the 90s desire to make a movie out of every old TV show. 1998 tried its hand with Lost in Space. The original show ran in the late 1960s at the same time Star Trek was on TV. But, Lost in Space is the opposite of Star Trek, taking a very campy outlook at a family stranded in space. The movie tries to channel the first few episodes of the series’ darker tone. It’s got Matt LeBlanc, red hot because of Friends, Gary Oldmam, William Hurt, the luminous Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, and Mimi Rogers heading into space to find a new world for humans to live on, since we have destroyed the planet with pollution. It throws in all of the show’s cliches, “Danger, Will Robinson”, “Oh, the pain, the pain”, and the like. The movie was a moderate hit at the time, but it ultimately feels very unsatisfying, just like the more recent Netflix reboot of the series. The DVD had a ton of deleted scenes, and upon viewing they weren’t going to save the movie in some director’s cut. Still, if you are interested in Lost in Space, the movie is the best way to watch it without investing a lot of time. You can be over and done with in just over two hours. Though, you may feel like you are Lost in Space during that time too.

Scream (1996)

Movies still have the power to become cultural events. But it’s not as strong as it used to be before our collective attention span splintered into a trillion directions. It is hard to describe the effect 1996’s Scream had when it was released to someone who hadn’t

Mannequin (1987)

If you can say one thing about 80s cinema, it was willing to take chances. 1987’s Mannequin might have been the most ludicrous concept to come to a theater, until Weekend at Bernie’s two years later. Kim Cattrall is the spirit of an ancient Egyptian who somehow gets

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

There are just director-actor combos that seem to just go together. Alfred Hitchcock had Jimmy Stewart. John Ford and John Wayne. And Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. We’ve talked about their collaborations before with Ed Wood. 1999’s Sleepy Hollow is another one of their perfect pairings. It’

Romancing the Stone (1984)

Hollywood is a copycat factory. If there’s a hit movie, you can guarantee there are going to be movies just like it in the years following its release. Raiders of the Lost Ark set the world on fire in 1981, so of course there were going to be clones.

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Scream (1996)

Mannequin (1987)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Romancing the Stone (1984)